Art & Culture

A mass angklung performance celebrating Angklung Day was held in the front yard of Gedung Sate in Bandung, West Java, on Nov. 18. The performance, themed "From Local to Global", involved 5,000 participants from 172 art groups across Indonesia, breaking the Record Holders Republic (RHR)’s world record for the largest angklung performance. "It is not a matter of breaking a record, but to globally introduce angklung,” West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said as quoted by tempo.co. He also said that the West Java provincial administration would provide angklung grants to all Indonesian embassies throughout the world. “Everywhere I go, angklung becomes the easiest and most unique diplomatic tool,” Ridwan said. Read also: Angklung to take center stage at UN headquarters Ridwan also plans on developing cultural centers in 27 cities and regencies in West Java. He intends to plant bamboo as a material for making traditional musical instruments. … [Read more...] about Angklung performance in Bandung’s Gedung Sate nabs world record

There is a strand of hair at the back of her right calf. She hunches down to take a closer look. It looks like it’s waving at her and cheekily whispering, “Come, come, hold my hand and let’s go see the sun together.” “Nasty little hair… I’m letting you go now. I’ll be back in the clinic in a couple of days,” Anjali reprimands that one annoying strand of hair as she looks at her otherwise smooth leg. Anjali quickly goes back to her coffee. She feels that other people in the café are not really minding their own business. Whatever, she thinks. She stares back at them. They turn their eyes away and laugh. They might actually not notice that she’s around; it’s her mind that is doing the usual trick. Anjali takes out her iPhone and goes to check on her Path. One nasty one to go, she writes on her status update. It’s one of the things she likes to do while trying to finish her writing. She sits at her usual place, … [Read more...] about Short Story: A Hairy Tale

Spain's Calixto Bieito built his reputation by shattering operatic norms, but his new production of "Simon Boccanegra" in Paris shows the restrained side of a director more known for performances featuring sex, blood and violence. "I don't have a formula that I use each time in every opera," Bieito told AFP in an interview as his interpretation of the Verdi work premiered at the Opera Bastille this past week. "I have different facets," he said. The 55-year-old Catalan native, once described as the "Quentin Tarantino of opera," has for years staged some of the most outlandish and controversial reworkings of the classics. His torrid "Carmen" by Georges Bizet, which has been staged in different cities over the past 20 years, has been branded both "vulgar" and "brilliant", depending on the critic. In 2002 he secured his place in opera history with a scene of politicians reading newspapers on the toilet in Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" (Masked Ball). Hard-to-stomach torture and rape scenes … [Read more...] about Calixto Bieito brings his ‘film noir’ to Paris Opera

One of seven paintings stolen six years ago from a museum in The Netherlands as part of a spectacular art heist may have been found in Romania, the public prosector in Bucharest said Sunday. Seven masterpieces by Picasso, Monet, Gauguin, and Lucian Freud were stolen from the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam in 2012 in a raid that lasted only three minutes. Dutch media at the time called it "the theft of the century". Public prosecutor Augustin Lazar confirmed to AFP that Romanian authorities were in possession of a painting that "might be" one of those stolen from the Kunsthal Museum, adding it needs to be further examined. Sources told AFP that experts are checking if the canvas is Picasso's "Harlequin Head". A Dutch foreign affairs ministry spokesperson said the painting's "authenticity must now be established". Read also: Paris show blends happiness and melancholia of young Picasso Four Romanians were jailed for the heist in 2014, and ordered to pay 18 million euros ($20.5 million at … [Read more...] about ‘Picasso’ stolen in Rotterdam possibly found in Romania

One of the last missing pieces of Byzantine art stolen from Cyprus in the 1970s was handed back this week by a renowned, and proud Dutch art investigator. Arthur Brand said Friday he handed back the sixth century depiction of Saint Mark during a private ceremony at the Cypriot embassy in The Hague. For Brand, dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the art world" because of his exploits to recover stolen works, the handover was a highpoint in his life-long interest in the Byzantine saint -- and the result of a nearly two-year chase across Europe. "This is a very special piece that's more than 1,600 years old. It's one of the last and most beautiful examples of art from the early Byzantine era," said the art sleuth. He showed AFP the mosaic hours before it was handed back. The Cypriot embassy and Church of Cyprus declined to comment when asked about the mosaic and the Cypriot Department of Antiquities did not respond to phonecalls. - 'Greatest moment' - After getting a tip from a prominent London … [Read more...] about Missing St Mark mosaic finally returns to Cyprus